As we approach the season of the celebration of Thanksgiving, Pastor Landis Fisher has prepared a series of special topical messages designed to assist us in getting through the holidays having increased our fellowship with God through His Son Jesus, and with each other as well. Today’s installment helps us learn how we should react to the Gospel even in a world who fails to acknowledge God’s continuous mercies in a message he has titled: “Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude”
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Psalms 26:1 – 12 (KJV)
Psa 26:1 A Psalm of David. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.
Psa 26:2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
Psa 26:3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.
Psa 26:4 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
Psa 26:5 I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.
Psa 26:6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:
Psa 26:7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.
Psa 26:8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
Psa 26:9 Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:
Psa 26:10 In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
Psa 26:11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.
Psa 26:12 My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:12 – 22 (NASB)
Col 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
Col 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
Col 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Col 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Col 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
Col 1:19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
Col 1:20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Col 1:21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
Col 1:22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach
Transforming Power Statements:
1) Because of the immeasurable magnitude of the “Fall of Adam” which was inflicted upon all things in the entire creation, everything and everyone in the world has sustained a horrific blast of perpetual inadequacy , way short of what God originally intended for His creation, placing all people and all things into a cycle of discontentment and thanklessness which tends to be the prevalent mindset of all.
2) The position of the world and fallen man, who fail to recognize the magnanimous mercies of God and even His willingness to provide grace through the sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ; is one of ingratitude, indifference, selfishness, greed, hatred, lust, and wickedness of every stripe.
3) Since God has chosen to provide to the world His Son to set all who believe in Him in right standing with Him by GRACE ALONE; through FAITH IN HIM ALONE; we all should, as a proper response to His GOODNESS; nurture for ourselves and export to the world an attitude of THANKSGIVING!
